Quarantine 40-50 fish from existing 500 gallon reef

[Jeffdstafford]

Yeah coral will seriously test your patience and keep you humble. I have orange, green, and purple Monti Cap, and the orange has quadrupled in size while the purple shows barely any growth. Not sure what's different about the purple variant, but it reacts totally different in my experience.

And some nice anthias will definitely set your tank off, they are one of my favorite types of fish!

 

[Jeffdstafford]

Hey everyone, it's been a while, and man 'o man has a lot happened since I last posted! We got a new home and I have everything moved in, but the tank is still in shambles and fish/corals are in two 150g rubbermaid holding tanks while I get the display back up and running. I have the building for a fishroom already in the backyard, but have to finish it out, and trench over to it for my plumbing. If you desire, you can follow along with the adventure on my youtube channel,
https://www.youtube.com/user/jeffdstafford

#reefsquad

My question today is this; last night I noticed spots all over a few yellow tangs and my heart stopped, as I thought ich was back. But I don't think it's ich, I'm assuming it's flukes or some other parasite. I'll try to get some pics tonight, but I there are spots all over, and a bit more spread out than ich usually is, and from top-down, you can see little parasites sticking out of their skin. They look almost transparent, and poke out a tiny bit from the fish, like a tiny little tail sticking out. We're talking the diameter of a straight pin or small, and only stick out a millimeter or 2, so they're tiny.

Does that sound like a fluke? Not sure if flukes are flat and lay against the fish, or dig in and stick out perpendicular to the fish like what I'm seeing.

Thanks for any input you have!

Jeff

 

[Brew12]

Hey everyone, it's been a while, and man 'o man has a lot happened since I last posted! We got a new home and I have everything moved in, but the tank is still in shambles and fish/corals are in two 150g rubbermaid holding tanks while I get the display back up and running. I have the building for a fishroom already in the backyard, but have to finish it out, and trench over to it for my plumbing. If you desire, you can follow along with the adventure on my youtube channel,
https://www.youtube.com/user/jeffdstafford

#reefsquad

My question today is this; last night I noticed spots all over a few yellow tangs and my heart stopped, as I thought ich was back. But I don't think it's ich, I'm assuming it's flukes or some other parasite. I'll try to get some pics tonight, but I there are spots all over, and a bit more spread out than ich usually is, and from top-down, you can see little parasites sticking out of their skin. They look almost transparent, and poke out a tiny bit from the fish, like a tiny little tail sticking out. We're talking the diameter of a straight pin or small, and only stick out a millimeter or 2, so they're tiny.

Does that sound like a fluke? Not sure if flukes are flat and lay against the fish, or dig in and stick out perpendicular to the fish like what I'm seeing.

Thanks for any input you have!

Jeff

Can't wait to get home and check out your channel.

As to your question....



Flukes are normally translucent and lay flat on the fish. They turn white in freshwater making them really stand out during a FW dip.

 

[Jeffdstafford]

Well that's not good, these are definitely not flat. I'll see if I can snag some pictures, which will help a lot I'm sure

 

[roberthu526]

I would use hypo to treat. I have had great results with it so I am not going to touch copper. In my experience hypo is easier on the fish, don't destroy the biological filtration, and it's easier to monitor and less expensive.

 

[RamsReef]

Hey everyone, it's been a while, and man 'o man has a lot happened since I last posted! We got a new home and I have everything moved in, but the tank is still in shambles and fish/corals are in two 150g rubbermaid holding tanks while I get the display back up and running. I have the building for a fishroom already in the backyard, but have to finish it out, and trench over to it for my plumbing. If you desire, you can follow along with the adventure on my youtube channel,
https://www.youtube.com/user/jeffdstafford

#reefsquad

My question today is this; last night I noticed spots all over a few yellow tangs and my heart stopped, as I thought ich was back. But I don't think it's ich, I'm assuming it's flukes or some other parasite. I'll try to get some pics tonight, but I there are spots all over, and a bit more spread out than ich usually is, and from top-down, you can see little parasites sticking out of their skin. They look almost transparent, and poke out a tiny bit from the fish, like a tiny little tail sticking out. We're talking the diameter of a straight pin or small, and only stick out a millimeter or 2, so they're tiny.

Does that sound like a fluke? Not sure if flukes are flat and lay against the fish, or dig in and stick out perpendicular to the fish like what I'm seeing.

Thanks for any input you have!

Jeff

Great to hear from you again Jeff. Sorry you are having so many troubles, good luck man.

 

[Jeffdstafford]

Thanks robert, might try hypo once I get a handle on what the issue is. Unfortunately this is the absolute worst time to try and treat fish due to all I've got going on with the new house and getting the tank and fish room set back up...the fun never ends!

 

[Jeffdstafford]

Great to hear from you again Jeff. Sorry you are having so many troubles, good luck man.

Much appreciated! hopefully I can get this figured out; I'm not really up for another 3 month fallow period though, the last round about took it out of me!

 

[Myka]

I'd use a dewormer like PraziPrio (for flukes) or Levamisole (for nematodes). Hypo would not be on my radar at all.

 

[Jeffdstafford]

I'd use a dewormer like PraziPrio (for flukes) or Levamisole (for nematodes). Hypo would not be on my radar at all.

Thanks Myka! So I don't know what they were, but the issue cleared up in 2 days. Now, just like ich, whatever they were, they're still in the system, but they didn't stress they fish enough to dampen their appetite and was short lived, so I'm going to press on with setting things back up.

If I had the time I would treat and go fallow again to be safe, but with everything I have going on with the new house remodeling as well as the massive undertaking of my external fish room, I just don't have any time to spend on this issue.

If you haven't watched my daily updates yet, go check out my YouTube channel to follow along with the insanity! I posted the link a few posts back from June 21st.

Thanks again everyone!

 

[Jeffdstafford]

Well everyone, sad day today. I've been super busy with the new setup and haven't been watching the livestock much, but finally got a chance to look at the fish closely, and a majority of the fish have ich. For those that have followed along from last November, it was a pretty grueling process to quarantine everything, and since that time, absolutely nothing new has been added, and I was extremely meticulous about keeping all of my QT equipment separate from the fallow display, so I have no idea how this happened, but unfortunately it appears it was all for not. Now I'm sure that your first reaction will be the same as mine; there's no way the process failed, it had to be human error. I dunno, maybe it was me? Not the slightest clue where the weak link in the quarantine chain would have been however, since all the QT stuff was out in the garage, and I also accidentally dosed double the amount of copper, so you'd think nothing bad could have lived through that nuclear fallout, but somehow, somewhere, it did. I'm definitely sad over this fact; not necessarily because of the wasted time, because I learned a ton through the process, but more so because of all the fish I lost during the process...really sucks!

However, it is what it is, and I have to move forward. At this point, I most definitely do not have it in me to go through that entire ordeal again, especially with no way to be sure I won't waste another 3 months and more potential fish losses, so I'm back to square one of dealing with ich management. I am still going to quarantine incoming fish, but will be doing so to prevent velvet or anything more serious. That's a tough thing to admit after everything I went through which is well documented on this thread, but the scale of what is required to do this again simply is not feasible at my new house, so I've got to be realistic. At the end of the day, this is a hobby, and only a small facet of life, and I have to weigh that against the other important things in my life. My family, work, home remodeling, trying to finish up the major project I've got going with my external fish room and all that goes along with getting the tank set back up...I have a whole lot going on in life, and knowing how much of my time this last round of quarantine took up; it just isn't realistic for me at this juncture in life. SO, I will get the tank set back up and operational and enjoy my beautiful reef, and get as many ich resistant fish as possible and try and keep them all happy and healthy, and move on with life!

In summary, a MAJOR thank you to everyone who helped me along this process; you all were so great, and so glad I was able to converse with everyone and I learned a ton about this hobby I love so much! And someone please notify me when one of these "reef safe ich cure" snake oils actually works

Jeff

 

[RamsReef]

bro...
Danngggggg

 

[Jeffdstafford]

bro...
Danngggggg

Ha, I think you just summed it all up my friend!

 

[Humblefish]

So sorry to hear this Jeff

 

[Jeffdstafford]

Thank you Humble, I feel like we've been through battle together! Appreciate the guidance you provided over the last half year. Once things calm down next year I may try another round of global quarantine, depending on how the fish do the rest of this year. One thing is for certain; this hobby will most definitely teach you humility!!

 

[justingraham]

Thank you Humble, I feel like we've been through battle together! Appreciate the guidance you provided over the last half year. Once things calm down next year I may try another round of global quarantine, depending on how the fish do the rest of this year. One thing is for certain; this hobby will most definitely teach you humility!!

Dude so sorry to hear this.

@Humblefish or @melypr1985 even @Brew12
U guys are the main qt people on this forum this guy did it right from the start how did it could this have happened? And this isn't the first case either I have seen at least two others who went way beyond the qt protocol. To still have ich in the system
So what gives? New copper resistant ich? And if this is the case just like Jeff (I'm guessing that's ur name just like mine is justin) said this is a hobby and it shouldn't be another job. So how do u tell people starting up to qt if it doesn't work(I mean I know why u qt to observe get the fish healthy and so on) this guy did it all and did it the right way with the full thought process of running a ich eradication tank and still after everything he did has to run an ich management tank.

Jeff sorry to ramble on ur thread but I'm kinda p'ed off at the outcome of this. And it wasn't even my tank I just followed in the shadows. Hopeing u would succeed so we could say if u did it why can't u.

I'm sorry man so sorry I truly mean it when I say I wanted u to succeed not just for urself but for everyone.

Justin

 

[RamsReef]

Dude so sorry to hear this.

@Humblefish or @melypr1985 even @Brew12
U guys are the main qt people on this forum this guy did it right from the start how did it could this have happened? And this isn't the first case either I have seen at least two others who went way beyond the qt protocol. To still have ich in the system
So what gives? New copper resistant ich? And if this is the case just like Jeff (I'm guessing that's ur name just like mine is justin) said this is a hobby and it shouldn't be another job. So how do u tell people starting up to qt if it doesn't work(I mean I know why u qt to observe get the fish healthy and so on) this guy did it all and did it the right way with the full thought process of running a ich eradication tank and still after everything he did has to run an ich management tank.

Jeff sorry to ramble on ur thread but I'm kinda p'ed off at the outcome of this. And it wasn't even my tank I just followed in the shadows. Hopeing u would succeed so we could say if u did it why can't u.

I'm sorry man so sorry I truly mean it when I say I wanted u to succeed not just for urself but for everyone.

Justin

Too hersay to say.

 

[melypr1985]

@Humblefish or @melypr1985 even @Brew12
U guys are the main qt people on this forum this guy did it right from the start how did it could this have happened? And this isn't the first case either I have seen at least two others who went way beyond the qt protocol. To still have ich in the system
So what gives? New copper resistant ich? And if this is the case just like Jeff (I'm guessing that's ur name just like mine is justin) said this is a hobby and it shouldn't be another job. So how do u tell people starting up to qt if it doesn't work(I mean I know why u qt to observe get the fish healthy and so on) this guy did it all and did it the right way with the full thought process of running a ich eradication tank and still after everything he did has to run an ich management tank.

I know it's frustrating to the max to see outcomes like this, but it does happen. I can't remember all the details and honestly don't have the time to go through all 20 pages of it to refresh myself. I'll say that in most cases when this happens it is user error. QT and DT were too close, a wet hand or piece of equipment was shared, or even just a spoon or turkey baster that was shared between tanks when feeding. There is the rare occasion when it isn't user error we can speculate that the fish had one of the few strains of ich that can outlast 30 days in their cyst. In that case, copper treatment would need to be longer, OR TTM would need to be done. It's difficult, I know, and irritating if that happens to you, but being that we are on the internet and not able to be there every moment to watch what the person is doing, none of us will be able to definitively say "this is exactly what went wrong".

 

[Humblefish]

^^ I agree with Meredith.

QTing is an exact science; one mistake can undo weeks/months of work. When I first got into QTing fish, I can't tell you how many times I caught myself making a mistake and then would have to go back to the beginning and start all over again. Sometimes I would catch my mistake right away and had this "Oh ****" moment; other times I would catch it in the shower while I was rethinking events of the day. (Yes, I know I'm weird thinking about fish in the shower. )

At some point I created a checklist of all the little things which helped to perfect my QT techniques - I need to put those into a thread someday. They became ingrained in my head, into my personality really, and the errors stopped occurring. It wasn't intelligence or even experience per se... but years of repetition to eliminate mistakes I was not even aware I was making when I first started out.

 

[Myka]

Ugh. Sorry to hear this.